Page 49 of Fifty First Times (Sharing You 0.40)
“How old are you?”
“Nineteen. Last week.”
“Happy birthday,” I returned, automatic.
She looked ahead, staring at something in the distance—like she was processing that I was a red-blooded twenty-two year-old guy who didn’t hang out at strip clubs. And that the first time I did, I got kicked out. Because I tried to defend her.
She looked back at me, squaring her shoulders like she had reached some sort of decision. “I’m sorry about your face.”
“It’ll heal.” It’s not the first time I took a hit. With a roommate like Cody—and his penchant for trying to pick up girls that happened to be unavailable—I’d gotten into a few throw-downs.
“Do you want a ride?”
I blinked. Was she seriously offering me a ride? She didn’t know me.
I didn’t know her.
I motioned to the building. “I’m waiting for my friends.”
She nodded and her voice shook a little, like she was embarrassed she had even made the offer. She tucked a heavy chunk of dark hair behind her ear. “Oh. Sure. Thought you just might not . . . you know, you might not want to stand out here . . .” Her voice faded away.
I stared at her intently, remembering the hunger I had felt when I stared at her on stage. I still felt it. Even staring at her like this—all innocent and fresh-faced – I wanted her. It probably wasn’t a good idea for me to go with her. Somehow I didn’t think the offer was because she wanted me to get in her pants. Sure, I could make assumptions about her because she was a stripper, but I just knew. She wasn’t inviting me into her bed. She was probably being kind to me because I had tried to help her tonight. Maybe she thought I was heroic and not like the rest of those guys imagining what it would feel like to touch her. She’d be wrong. All I could see was that perfect breast in my mind. And wonder what it might taste like.
I was a guy like every other. And this girl . . . she got to me. I wasn’t immune.
I reached in my pocket and dug out my phone. The idea of getting in the car with her, being alone with her, was a temptation I couldn’t pass up. Maybe that made me shallow, but there it was. “Why not?” I shot a quick text to Cody. “I doubt they wanted to leave anyway.” Understatement. They were just getting warmed up when I went and got myself kicked out.
She unlocked the door and I slid in beside her. She stared at me for a moment, like she couldn’t quite believe I just got in her car and took her up on her offer. Those eyes of hers were so wide and blue even in the dim interior.
“Wishing you hadn’t offered me a ride?” I asked, half teasing. I wouldn’t blame her if she changed her mind. I didn’t want her to be afraid or uncomfortable. My gut twisted a little and the memory of her earlier scream echoed in my ears. I didn’t want to make her feel even a small bit like she had earlier tonight. “I can go,” I offered, my hand moving for the door latch, ready to climb back out.
“No.” She shook her head. “It’s okay.”
She started driving then, pulling out of the parking lot. “Where do you live?
“Across town. My apartment is off Eighty-nine and the Parkway.”
“Near Dartford?”
“Yeah.”
“Are you a student?”
I nodded and we fell into silence. She reached between us and turned the radio on to a station that was playing top hits. She adjusted the volume so that Bruno Mars crooned softly.
“What are you studying?” she asked.
“Biology. Pre-med.”
“You’re going to med school?”
“Yeah. Next fall.”
“Wow.” She slid me a measuring look. “That’s pretty impressive. You must be really smart.”
I grinned. “Just stubborn.”
“Stubborn?”
